Andrew Flintoff insisted that his team is focused solely on the
Champions Trophy, brushing aside suggestions that it was just another
tournament ahead of one of the most-hyped Ashes in recent times.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in New Delhi07-Oct-2006
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Andrew Flintoff insisted that his team is focused solely on the
Champions Trophy, brushing aside suggestions that it was just another
tournament ahead of one of the most-hyped Ashes in recent times.”Two years ago, we reached the final in the Champions Trophy and we want
to do it again,” he said while addressing the media at New Delhi’s Le
Meridian Hotel.Having been put to pasture for close to four months, owing to a wonky
ankle, Flintoff reiterated that he was eager, almost desperate, to play.”Hopefully we can go further this time. It’s something I’m excited about. Having missed it a hell of a lot,
want to get back on the pitch and play again. Sometimes, you tend to take
cricket for granted.”The start of his pre-tournament press conference coincided
with the Champions Trophy kick-off, as Bangladesh took on Sri Lanka in
the opening qualifying game at Mohali.They might have entered the final last time around, but neither England
nor West Indies are tipped to go all the way this time. England’s one-day
form in recent years has been poor – having won just six of their last 26
ODIs. Their recent fightback against Pakistan, when they levelled the
series 2-2, somewhat made amends for a miserable phase when they endured
14 defeats in 15 games against major opposition.”West Indies and us got into the final last time and we’ve got to go out
there confident and believe we can beat other top teams as well,” Flintoff
continued. “In the summer, we came back from 2-0 down against Pakistan and
that was fantastic. We have talent in the side, young players and the one
thing we got to strive for is consistency. We need to try and string a lot
of victories together.”Lack of consistency hurt them during their tour to India earlier this
year, when they were thumped 5-1 in the one-day series. Flintoff, though,
preferred to build on the lessons from that tour. “We played some good
cricket in the one-say series and put India under pressure at times. But we
couldn’t see it home many times. We gained experience about pitches and
conditions. We’re in a tough group and have a chance to play some good
cricket against the top teams in the world.”With the Ashes defence beckoning, it might have been tempting for England
to preserve Flintoff and get him back into full fitness, but the man
himself seemed to think otherwise. “My fitness has been good. I haven’t
played a great deal of cricket in the last 13-14 weeks, about
ten-and-a-half weeks after the operation. My body’s responded well to
training. It’s an opportunity to get outside, bowl in the nets, and push
myself more and more. We have a week before the first game. I’ve been
batting at home in the nets and since I haven’t played a lot, I need to
get the cobwebs out.”Flintoff won’t be the only one dusting cobwebs. This tournament will
provide a chance for Stephen Harmison and James Anderson to get themselves
fine-tuned for the Ashes. There will also be a return for Ashley Giles,
who won’t play in any of the games but get a chance for rehabilitation.
“It’s great to have Giles back,” Flintoff beamed. “He’s a popular member
of the squad and he’s been a stellar performer for sometime. I’ve missed a
bit of cricket, but he’s missed a lot. He’s desperate to get back on the
pitch, desperate to play. He’s someone I like having around, as a friend
and as a cricketer.”England start the tournament with two high-voltage games – taking on hosts
India at Jaipur before locking horns with Australia. Surprisingly, it’s
been the latter who they’ve had more success against in recent times.
Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, spoke about the importance of the
Australia clash, on October 21 at Jaipur. “We’ve played consistently
against Australia since the last ICC Champions Trophy,” he said when asked
about the Twenty20 game last summer that set the tone for the historic
Ashes triumph. ” That set the mark and since then we’ve shown improvement against them. So it will be nice to continue that record.”
